The Georgia Department of Corrections has set a Jan. 31 execution date for Nicholas Cody Tate, who killed a Paulding County woman and her daughter in 2001.
Tate is to be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Tate was sentenced to death for fatally shooting Chrissie Williams in the head and killing her 3-year-old daughter Katelyn by slitting her throat.
Tate pleaded guilty to the murders in 2005 and waived a trial by jury. After a sentencing hearing, the trial judge sentenced Tate to death. Tate's case is highly unusual in that he has not challenged his conviction and sentence through a petition of habeas corpus in either state or federal court. BILL RANKIN
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Georgia Cancer Specialists set a new record in this year's Totes 2 Tots drive, collecting 6,113 backpacks and suitcases for foster children. The private cancer treatment and research practice took donations at 25 offices throughout the state, including 17 in metro Atlanta.
Last year's drive collected 3,530 bags, and the 10-year total is now more than 31,000. The bags will be distributed to needy children, who often shuffle from place to place, with help from the state Division of Family and Children’s Services. JOHNNY EDWARDS
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A ceremony marking the anniversary of the birth of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee will be held Saturday in Milledgeville, Georgia's Capitol city during the Civil War.
Reenactors will lead a procession from the old Governor's Mansion at 10:30 a.m., with the public joining the half-mile walk to building that was the State Capitol for 60 years.
Once inside the legislative chamber, a Methodist minister will portray his great grandfather's escape from a Yankee prison camp of Elmira.
The event is sponsored by Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. RHONDA COOK
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